all god's orphans
Chapter 81

The RV floated along the highway, the droning hum of the tires making everyone sleepy. They had only been awake for a couple of hours, but already Sarah and Millie were ready for a nap. That morning they had eaten their breakfast of MREs on the side of the road, marveling at the wide openness of this part of the world. The edges seemed to just go on and on, encircling an emptiness they had never witnessed firsthand.

After breakfast, Millie wanted to drive, so Wes and Sarah sat in the back of the RV watching the unchanging landscape slip past outside.

“Do you really think the Army will help us?” Sarah asked.

“I’m sure they will.” Wes consoled her.

“How do you know that?” She leveled her gaze at him.

“Just a hunch.” He smiled at her.

“You think I’m a child, don’t you?” She sneered.

“What are you talking about?” He genuinely had no idea.

“You’re telling me what you think I want to hear instead of giving me a straight answer.” She said. “I hate that. I’m not a little girl, you know.” Wes held up his hands in a mock surrender.

“I know.” He assured her. “Do you want to know the truth?” She nodded solemnly. “I don’t know. I don’t know if they’ll help us. I don’t know if ‘they’ even exist anymore.” That seemed to hit her harder than she expected.

“That’s what I thought.” She said.

“Hey, but you know what?” He tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. “It doesn’t really matter. We all stick together, right?” She nodded. “So it doesn’t matter if they’ll help us or not because we will help each other, right?” She nodded but didn’t seem convinced. “I promise you.” He said. “I’ll take care of you.”

“What about Millie?” She asked.

“Well hopefully Millie will take care of me.” He said with a smile, making her laugh. Wes caught Millie’s eye in the rearview mirror and sat back in the booth of the table.

“I’m getting hungry.” Sarah announced.

“Me too.” Agreed Wes. “What do you say we stop somewhere and replace something tastier than government cheese?” She nodded and hopped into the passenger seat to tell Millie.

After another several miles, they finally saw the truck stop that Wes was sure he’d spotted on one of their trucker’s maps. The now familiar sign rose up out of the flat landscape like a tower. “Pilot Travel Centers” it proclaimed. Millie pulled the RV onto the off ramp and a strange sight greeted them. To the right of the road were several small metal building surrounded by what looked like scrap metal. Other than that, there was nothing here. Near the entrance of the truck stop, two cars had apparently been involved in an accident. Their front ends were twisted together and a badly decayed body lay nearby in the grass.

“I changed my mind.” Sarah said. “Let’s not stop here.”

“We have to.” Wes said. “We need gas.” They peered through the RV’s windshield trying to determine if the truck stop was empty, but it was impossible to tell. Millie pulled up beside a pump.

“Who’s going to turn the pump on?” She asked. Wes picked up Sarah’s rifle.

“I’ll go.” He said. “Stay sharp. Any requests for food?” They both shook their heads. Seeing that dead body was enough to put a vulture off their meal. A few minutes after he had gone inside, the numbers on the pump flipped to zero and Millie squeezed the handle. She watched them steadily climb for a while before she noticed Wes standing at the entrance, motioning her to join him. At first, she didn’t move, but his gestures became more insistent. There was something he needed her to see.

“Stay here.” She told Sarah who would have disobeyed under normal circumstances, but she could just detect the faint smell of rotting flesh from the nearby dead body and decided to listen for once.

She watched Millie cross the parking lot and Wes usher her inside. Their silhouettes stood there for a moment before heading deeper into the store where she couldn’t see them. Instead, she kept an eye on the mirrors and rolled down the window in case they yelled for help. Not that she would be much help since Wes had taken her gun with him. Damnit, she thought.

She began to be aware of a high pitched shrieking that seemed to float high in the air and be coming from far away. It was a dreadful tone that sounded like something either in great pain itself, or capable of causing great pain. The shrill note was run throughout with a kind of scraping noise, like a knife on concrete. It was growing in volume and getting closer. She could see someone inside of the shop running towards the front entrance. They seemed scary and she laid on the horn as she realized it was Wes sprinting out of the shop.

“We gotta go!” He was screaming. “Open the door!” Sarah threw open the driver’s side door and Wes jumped in, twisted the key and stomped on the gas.

“Where’s Millie?” Terror swept over Sarah and she could hear that awful sound getting closer. Wes ignored her and piloted the RV back to the main road that led to the highway. As he neared the on ramp, another vehicle screeching along on just three tires and a rim came skidding through the stop sign and bumped into their front end. Wes tried to back up, but Sarah stopped him.

“It’s Brian!” She yelled. Wes collected himself and realized that it was, indeed Brian. He opened his door and stepped out. Wes followed suit. For a moment, they stood there, saying nothing. Brian had a strange look on his face. Behind the RV, he saw Millie emerge from the truck stop, stumbling and holding the back of her head.

“What are you doing here, buddy?” Wes asked, and Brian punched him in the face as hard as he could, sending Wes to the ground and into oblivion.